With an average of six to eight children per family, and the political clout to demand that they be permanently subsidized, the Haredim have grown to be an abiding underclass that is supported by working Israelis.

Throughout the different chapters of the book, Finkelman shows that although many American Haredim consider themselves traditionalist and anti-modern, they have no problem adapting secular literary genres and mobilizing them in the service of their community.

Speaking at the Israel Bar Association headquarters in Tel Aviv late July 2, Attias said Israel was in danger of "losing the Galilee" if the Israeli-Arab population continued to "spread" in the north, and mentioned in particular the Wadi Ara area, where he said Haredim, an ultra-Orthodox community, planned to construct houses that could help "stop the expansion".

Aa Ariel Atias said he considered it a "national mission" to bring ultra-Orthodox Jews -- or Haredim, distinctive for their formal black and white clothing -- into Arab areas, and announced that he would also create the north's first exclusively Haredi town.

Observers had wondered if American haredim would have any detectable response in New York's September 10 Democratic primary to the much-publicized sexual antics of candidates Anthony Weiner (for mayor) and Eliot Spitzer (for city comptroller).

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